Sean “Diddy” Combs has issued an apology after surveillance footage allegedly showed him physically abusing his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in an incident about eight years ago.
“It's so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life. Sometimes you gotta do that. I was fucked up,” said Diddy, 54, in a video uploaded to his Instagram account on Sunday morning.
“I mean, I hit rock bottom but I make no excuses. My behavior on that video is inexcusable. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video. I’m disgusted. I was disgusted then when I did it, I'm disgusted now.”
He continued, “I went and I sought out professional help and I had to go into therapy. We're going to rehab. I had to ask God for his mercy and grace. I'm so sorry, but I'm committed to be a better man each and every day. I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm truly sorry.”
Responses to Diddy's apology flooded his comments section, ranging from outrage to calls for forgiveness and moving forward. It's worth noting that the Bad Boys Founder doesn't mention Cassie or apologize to her directly in the clip. The two were in an off-and-on relationship from 2007 to 2018.
On Friday, footage from a March 5, 2016 incident where Combs was seen abusing Ventura at a hotel in Los Angeles, California, was released via CNN.
Alex Fine, Cassie’s husband, shared a lengthy post on Instagram in support of victims of domestic violence. In the post, the 31-year-old shared a letter he wrote “a while back” emphasizing that real men protect and respect women, urging others to hold their male peers accountable.
Other names in the hip-hop space such as Slim Thug, 43, have made public responses in light of the shocking video, writing on Instagram, "Damn Diddy 🤦🏾♂️ I tried to ride with the Blk man who had no charges yet but I can't stand behind this 🤐 I'll take this L," Thug wrote. "But I still will ride with my ppl until I see some sort of proof I don't believe in blogs or civil suits Apologies to Cassie and whoever else was on the right side this time 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾."
Joe Budden, 43, was in the midst of recording an episode of his Joe Budden Podcast when CNN released the 2016 Combs-Ventura footage. The JPB crew discussing the incident was removed from the episode before publishing at the risk of sounding insensitive.
"I went outside with Emanny last night, and he said to me, 'Hey man, I think you all should readdress the Puff shit because y'all gonna get killed.' And I said, 'Why the story was breaking? We addressed it.' He said, 'Yeah, but it wasn't the address.' It wasn't the address that is appropriate for what happened," Budden said on Twitter Spaces.
He continued, "So I took it out; I took it out because it was insensitive for the moment. It was talking for four minutes about what happened, and in three minutes at the end, it was not the attention that the story needed, and it wasn't the commentary that it needed. So I don't need to be the first one to run to something."
The rapper-turned-podcaster also clarified that he has "absolutely zero ties" to Diddy.
Diddy’s apology video arrives on the heels of the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office announcing that no charges can be filed over the video due to the statute of limitations.
"We are aware of the video that has been circulating online allegedly depicting Sean Combs assaulting a young woman in Los Angeles," wrote DA George Gascón. "We find the images extremely disturbing and difficult to watch. If the conduct depicted occurred in 2016, unfortunately we would be unable to charge as the conduct would have occurred beyond the timeline where a crime of assault can be prosecuted."
He continued, "As of today, law enforcement has not presented a case related to the attack depicted in the video against Mr. Combs, but we encourage anyone who has been a victim or witness to a crime to report it to law enforcement or reach out to our office for support from our Bureau of Victims Services."
Last November, Ventura accused Combs of rape, sex trafficking, and abuse in a lawsuit filed against him. A month later, Diddy released a statement in which he said he "did not do any of the awful things being alleged" and that he will "fight for my name, my family and for the truth."
In a statement provided to Complex, Diddy’s attorney Ben Brafman at the time maintained the mogul’s innocence and denied the “offensive and outrageous allegations” made against his client, calling Ventura’s accusations “baseless and outrageous lies.”
The matter was settled one day after the suit was filed for an undisclosed amount. Cassie’s lawsuit kicked off a wave of sexual assault lawsuits made against Diddy.
